1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a knit fencing product finished with a polymeric coating that renders the fabric resistant to abrasion and ultraviolet light.
2. Summary of Prior Procedures
Fencing products made from fibrous materials, such as nylon, polyester, cotton, and the like, have been used for several years. They are used for crowd control, to control the drift or spreading of particular sand erosion, and as snow fencing materials to control the drifting of snow.
Illustrative of commercially available products is U.S. Pat. No. 4,434,200 to Fash and Davis describing a woven fencing product that is flexible at normal temperatures, stable at cool temperatures and woven in an open weave pattern from nylon, polyester or the like. The woven product is then impregnated with an elastomeric polymer coating which provides ultraviolet light protection and resistance to abrasion. In particular this impregnated woven product is used as a snow fencing. Also illustrative is U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,638 to Krebs that describes a snow fence made of a woven wire fabric in which the warp wires extend parallel to the ground while the weft wires extend perpendicular to the ground.
Both of these designs allow a certain amount of wind flow and passage through the fence while providing a sufficient degree of resistance to wind passage to allow for collection of particulate materials. With reference to U.S. Pat. No. 4,434,200, the weave pattern is designed to cover itself with airborne particulate snow or soil that leaves downwind or leeward drifts in lengths of approximately 16 to 20 times the height of the fence itself with a windward drift of about 7 to 9 times the height of the fence.
We have now discovered that a more porous or open fence configuration that allows drifts or dunes to build on the leeward side of the fence to lengths of about 30 times the height of the fence of the windward portion increases the dune or drift configurations to a factor of 12 times the height. This allows the fence to be more active for longer periods of time. We have also discovered, and hereby disclose, a procedure for knitting a fencing product that is readily adapted to manufacturing variations so that a fencing product can be produced in various configurations that will allow from about 40 to up to about 80% of the fabric's surface to be open for particulate redistribution. This permits tailoring of the fencing product to a particular location, an optimum design for particulate matter to be controlled or other application, and allows the supplier of the fencing product to offer a range of products for various applications and uses.
One of the objects of the present invention then is to provide a knitted fencing product that is easily variable in structure such that between 40 and 80% of the fabric's surface is open for particulate redistribution. This permits the customer to choose the optimum pattern for a particular application based upon the widely varying climate and wind conditions found throughout the world.
In particular applications, we envision the use of this knitted fencing product to control soil erosion in soil conservation areas where the build-up of particulate from fences can be gathered and redeposited in areas of need. In like manner, in snow areas, drifts can be situated in specific positions so in the winter to form frozen reservoirs that later, when warmer weather arrives, will melt and provide water in a predetermined area.